Goldman Sachs, BlackRock Plan to Launch Majority-owned Asset Management Vehicles in China

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US investment giants Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and BlackRock Inc. plan to hold majority stakes in new Chinese asset management joint-ventures, according to sources who spoke to Caixin.

Goldman Sachs is reportedly in “very initial” discussions with the wealth management unit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) – China’s largest lender – to establish a wealth management joint-venture in which the Wall Street bank will hold a 51% ownership stake.

BlackRock Inc and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte. are reportedly in discussions with another big state-owned lender – China Construction Bank – for a wealth management joint-venture in which the overseas parties will hold a 60% stake.

The moves arrive following much-vaunted efforts on the part of Beijing to further expand foreign access to the Chinese financial sector.

Reports recently emerged that JPMorgan Chase has applied with China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for a majority stake in its Guangdong-based futures joint-venture.

In December 2019 JPMorgan obtained approval from Chinese regulators to found a majority-owned securities joint-venture – the first Wall Street bank to do so.

In the same month Amundi Asset Management, the largest asset management firm in Europe, obtained approval to establish China’s first foreign-controlled wealth management joint-venture in Shanghai.

Amanda will hold a 55% stake in the joint-venture, while Bank of China Wealth Management will hold a 45% share.

UBS obtained approval to increase its equity stake in its Chinese securities venture towards the end of 2018, while Japan’s Nomura grabbed permission for a majority-stake joint-venture in November.

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